Technology To Bridge Language Barriers for Doctors, Patients

Imagine that your doctor walks into your hospital room, looks at a clipboard, furrows her brow, looks at you and starts talking.

But you have no idea what she's saying.  

For some who seek medical treatment in Howard County, that is a reality. Language barriers can lead to difficulties communicating, which in turn can lead to problems at every step of treatment, according to medical professionals.

Representatives from the county’s Spanish, Korean, Mandarin Chinese and deaf communities, (HCGH), Healthy Howard Inc. and other health care professionals gathered at the  Thursday morning to unveil the county’s newest interpretation tool.

Using electronic tablets, the system will use streaming video technology to provide live interpretation services in Howard County.

A two-year grant from Columbia-based Horizon Foundation provided 10 units to Howard County for just under $100,000. Eight tablets will be assigned to HCGH, one at Chase Brexton Health Services Center and another will be used by the Healthy Howard Health Plan, an initiative that provides low-cost health plans to uninsured residents while also promoting healthy lifestyles for all Howard County residents.

The service is provided by Language Access Network (LAN), a company that specializes in remote video interpretation for the health service industry. The company, based in Columbus, Ohio, serves more than 200 medical facilities nationally.

LAN provides its services through a computer tablet called Martti, short for My Accessible Real Time Trusted Interpreter.

Each tablet accesses a dedicated broadband network and can instantly connect to one of Martti’s network of interpreters 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

The system can provide a certified interpreter in one of 170 languages, each interpreter has been trained in medical terminology.

The benefit goes beyond language, said LAN COO and President Andrew Panos. The video stream allows the interpreter to read a patient’s body language and other visual cues that can assist in an accurate interpretation.

HCGH implemented the first Martti unit in mid-November, according to hospital President and CEO Vic Broccolino. Enthusiastic about the new program, he said he's surprised how many patients have already benefited from it.

Seventy-eight patients have already used the system in recent weeks, logging nearly 1,200 minutes with interpreters for a variety of languages, including Spanish, Arabic and Mandarin Chinese, Broccolino said.

The biggest benefit of the new system, according to Broccolino, is that it improves a patient's timely access to care.

Before Martti, HCGH implemented a combination of phone-based and in-person interpreter services, according to Broccolino. Martti is much more efficient, he said.

Horizon Foundation President and CEO Dr. Richard Krieg said Thursday there were several reasons the organization sought to improve the county’s interpretive services.

He cited a 2010 U.S. Census report that showed 15 percent of the county’s 287,085 residents are foreign born.

One of the biggest challenges facing health care providers is that patients who do not speak English sometimes provide their own interpreter, usually a family member or even their own children, Krieg said.

That can lead to many problems, including crucial elements of a doctor’s message getting lost in translation. He's also concerned that patients pull  their children from school whenever they need an interpreter, he said.

Krieg said the new system will likely save the hospital money as well. The current American Sign Language program at HCGH costs roughly $100,000 a year while the entire Martti system will cost just less than that.

Broccolino said this level of service is currently above the standard level of care, but as this technology becomes more readily available that may change.

“Eventually it will almost have to be everywhere,” he said. “And once it becomes the standard of care, you better have it.”